Rep. Van Hollen accuses Ryan of fudging facts

“The truth is, he and Mitt Romney just don't like the president's plan. They both pledged that they would never ask millionaires to pay one more dime to reduce the deficit. Mitt Romney even said he would reject a budget with ten dollars in spending cuts for every one dollar in new revenue.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Van Hollen said Republicans — including Ryan — were responsible for the giant national debt because they voted for two wars and tax cuts and didn’t pay for any of them, despite former President Clinton leaving them a budget projected budget surplus.

“The Republicans had this gigantic clock in the arena showing the size of the national debt," Van Hollen said. "Paul told America, ‘If you elect Republicans, we can fix that.’ But, if Paul Ryan was being honest, he would have pointed to that debt clock and said: ‘We built that.’"

Van Hollen said the Romney-Ryan plan would ask more of the middle class so that the wealthy wouldn’t have to pay their share.

“They call their plan bold, brave and courageous,” Van Hollen said. “I ask you: Is it bold to give millionaires another tax break while forcing seniors to pay more for Medicare? Is it brave to reward companies that ship jobs overseas while cutting education at home? Is it courageous to raise taxes on middle-class families while giving tax cuts to people with Swiss bank accounts?”

Van Hollen said Romney and Ryan would return to failed policies and urged voters to stick with Obama in November.